Surviving the new normal

This week in The BMJ there is much reflection on the “new normal” of NHS services—that is, the reality of life after the first brutal years of the global covid pandemic.The NHS was already struggling with underfunding and rising demand. Now it is in deep trouble. Before the pandemic almost no one had to endure protracted delays in hospital emergency departments of more than 12 hours, unlike the estimated 7% of patients attending in England now (doi:10.1136/bmj.o2550).1 There were more elective operations and fewer patients having their operations cancelled. There certainly weren’t seven million people waiting for elective treatment (doi:10.1136/bmj.o2574).2 And, of course, there weren’t any patients with covid; now there are well over 1000 a day in England’s hospitals.Before covid the number of doctors working remotely, although growing, was small. Now almost a third of GP appointments are remote, and more than half of physicians work remotely in some…
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